Shitbox Rally! – We’re in!
3 or 4 years ago now I was approached for sponsorship by a gentlemen call Matt who was raising funds for the Australian Cancer Council. After a couple of minuets of chatting, it became apparent that this bloke wasn’t your typical run of the mill tin-shaker. To a casual observer who might have overheard the conversation, it would have appeared that Matt escaped from an institution. You see, his plan for tackling cancer involved donning spandex and becoming Matman! Who together with his side kick Robin planned to would fight cancer on the open road.
Yep, Matman and Robin had painted an old van in an attempt to replicate the Batmobile and were raising money to compete in the Shitbox Rally, along with 200 other “insane” every day super heroes, each with their own theme an beat up Shitbox.
Matman and Robin
www.flickr.com/photos/shitboxrally
Unbeknownst to Matt, he inspired me that day. I found myself on the Shitbox rally website, learning about the cause, flicking though photos and looking at trips that had already been completed. We all know someone who has been affected by cancer and this seemed like a great way to contribute. Yep.. I guess the crazy was infectious.
Clicking through to the Australian Cancer Council website showed me that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women are diagnosed with some form of cancer by the time they reach 85.
So.. What is the Shitbox rally?? whats the point?? and how does it raise funds for cancer, i hear you say.. All good questions!
Firstly, the basic premise is that a team must raise a minimum of $4000 to take part in the rally. A decent chunk of this goes to the Australian Cancer council.
Secondly the team has to buy a Shitbox, yep a heap of junk! And… the team can’t spend anything more that $1000 on it!
Lastly, this team has to meet up with the other entrants somewhere in Australia for a 3000-4000km rally in off-road / gravel road conditions.
The 2013 group of superheros Elvis’s!
Does that sound like a challenge to you? – It did to me and my good mate Michael.
Before I knew it we had filled in and submitted the forms to compete.. without a second thought.
It was a pretty massive high clicking that send button! And I never would have guessed what happened next.. NOTHING! Yep, nothing (besides a confirmation email)… Turns out, I had made the mistake of thinking that because I had never heard of the Shitbox rally, that not many other people had as well.. And therefore I wouldn’t find it hard it get in. Future Lloyd still wants to slap past Lloyd for that oversight. Truthfully, we were lucky I guess, it took 3 years of applications to get a spot in the 2016 Shitbox Rally.
Yep! that’s right we’re in and insanely taking on Cancer! Team name: Tarmac Terrors
– We’ll be running “Fun-Rasing” events, searching for a Shitbox, fixing a Shitbox, chasing sponsorship, writing blogs and posting videos; from now till the end of the event! So if your interested, please sign up to our newsletter, follow us on Facebook or visit back regularly.
If you feel the urge you can donate at our everyday hero account here.
Till next time
Lloyd out!
Special thanks to Hills Physio for sponsoring this blog post! – Go say hi to Ben!
These photos are from the Shitbox Rally Flickr account.
